The SaaS video management platform, Imagen, which holds both current and archive footage for major sporting organisations and news outlets, including Premier League, World Tennis Association and the BBC, has secured GBP6.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Downing Ventures.
The round also included capital from Guinness Asset Management Ltd. and existing investor Cambridge Innovation Capital.
Imagen helps sports, media and enterprise businesses to manage their expanding video and content libraries on its cloud-based technology. Imagen announced 88 per cent year on year growth in 2018 driven by clients including Premier League, World Tennis Association, BP and IMG, part of Endeavour. It has also worked with Olympic Broadcasting Services to store and distribute exclusive footage to sponsors of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
The GBP6.5 million funding will support Imagen’s plans to expand its global operations and make significant inroads into the US and European markets. The business is already preparing to establish a customer led sales and marketing presence in the US, as well as accelerating product development and the growth of its technology division.
Imagen was advised by ICON Corporate finance as part of the funding round.
Charlie Horrell, CEO of Imagen, says: “This funding is clear recognition of the value our clients and prospects see in the platform. We have a world class roster of clients across the sports, media and enterprise sectors and have a healthy pipeline going into 2019. We look forward to accelerating our global operations and are thrilled to be working with new investors to continue our journey towards building the world’s smartest video management platform.”
Richard Lewis, Investment Director at Downing, adds: “The market for businesses like Imagen is growing rapidly, driven by the volume of rich media content created by organisations of all shapes and sizes, as well as consumers’ growing demand for more varied, visual, ways to engage with online content.”
“We’re really excited to support this dynamic team at what is a crucial stage in their business growth, as they push into new major markets and we look forward to watching Imagen go from strength to strength.”
